Control of raw materials is China's trump card

 Control of raw materials is the most important bargaining chip to hold, in the face of the expectation of a trade war. China had known this was going to happen and it acted with foresight and due diligence, seeking out what is important to control during the last three decades. The USA had been caught sleeping and thinking China has no leverage whatsoever to speak of. Shall we just say that the USA, like Trump, forever thinks that China has no hand to play in global manufacturing? That was a fatal mistake.

Every manufacturing activity starts with having the basic raw materials, which is the most important input in any industry. No use building a factory, knowing production cannot go ahead without the input of raw materials.

What comes to mind in importance is that the basic materials like iron, steel, copper and aluminum are needed in almost anything made, be it cars, planes, solar panels, wind turbines, power generators, electricity transformers, lifts, weapons, household consumer products, building structures and even mobile phones. And we are not even talking about rare earth elements.

China has almost a total grip on all these raw materials, including the refining facilities. How is the USA going to win a trade war with China, knowing China has the upper hand.

China will surely retaliate against the 20% tariffs coming into force in March 4. And it will be a targeted retaliation that is going to hurt the USA in the groin. In fact, an unsolicited retaliation movement will also come from Canada, Mexico and EU. There will be a beautiful sight to behold moving forward. 2025 may see the end of USA's hegemonic power, either an economic collapse or a civil war or revolution when inflation spirals out of control.

Anonymous

American Thinktanks are anything but tanking

 The USA's so-called Thinktanks are anything but what they are gloated to be. They are not thinking at all and are tanking instead.

Over the last 30 years, all they have been thinking are how to create conflicts, antagonizing China and Russia, instigating regime changes, sanctioning countries that cannot agree with them and everything evil under the sun. Now, a regime change is going to happen in Ukraine. Just watch the show.

How could their highly touted and illustrious Thinktanks not be aware that BYD and other Chinese EV manufacturers are rising fast through the ranks, eating their breakfast, lunch and dinner, while they are basically twiddling their thumbs on the issue. After losing the game, they are now using sanctions and tariffs to clamp down on Chinese EVs. Too little too late for that.

How could such highly touted and illustrious Thinktanks not be aware that China is building big factories in Mexico and South America over the last 30 years, with all the intelligence that they are supposed to have in those countries, until it is too late. Probably too arrogant and now paying the price.

How could such highly touted and illustrious Thinktanks not be aware that China had been forging alliances over raw material supplies in Africa, South America and Central Asia over the last 30 years, such that the USA and the West are now basically just trying to gain control of the leftovers.

Those leftovers are what China had already gone into and found to be unfeasible and unprofitable to invest in.

Now, who is catching up with who is the interesting question.

Anonymous

Tony Blair, Boris Johnson have blood in their hands. Starmer is following them to have more blood in his hands

 Ukraine lost everything for not signing the peace treaty with Russia in 2022, just after the start of the Ukraine War. Boris Johnson sabotaged the deal under the dictate of the USA. There is so much blood on his hands, same as Tony Blair in instigating the Iraq War with fake intelligence supplied to the USA.

And Starmer is trying to coax Zelenskyy to continue the war by pledging more aid. Instead of being a proxy to the USA, Zelenskyy is being cultivated into being a proxy for Europe and UK.

Trump knew that the Europeans, if they participated in the peace meeting with Putin, will never agree to end the war in Ukraine. The evilest country, the UK, will sabotage any attempt to come to a peace deal with their participation. Just as China knowing that any peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia will never be successful with the USA involved. China closed the deal between the Arabs and Iran, without the presence of the USA.

Anonymous

Australia - White Trash civilising aborigines and not going home

 I spent an evening on 5 Mar at the Kent Ridge Guild House listening to Allaster Cox, the Australian High Commissioner talking about the Challenges of 2025 and beyond. Nothing really interesting or enlightening from his speech other than repeating the western narratives that China is bullying Australia and Australia is a big power and would not be easily taken over, unlike the days when only the armless aborigines were on the island continent and easily taken over by the Brits.

The main beef of Cox presentation was China's warship sailing into the Tasman Sea and then skirting the coast of southern Australia before returning home. The Australians were angry by this show of force aka freedom of navigation by the PLA Navy but kept quiet about the countless provocations by the American, European and Australian naval ships and aircraft in the South China Sea and the Straits of Taiwan. Maybe freedom of navigation, ie provocation, is the reserved right of white men. 

This is the first time that the PLAN ventured into the southern hemisphere. The Australians had been sailing their warships, warplanes and also submarines into the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits for decades despite protests from China and had the cheek to call China a bully. It was pathetic to note that in one incident an Australian submarine had its propeller entangled by the fishing nets of Chinese fishermen and had to float back escorted by Chinese warships.

Are the Australians telling the Chinese this is year 2025 and China should not sail thousands of miles to Australia unlike the colonial days when European powers sailed tens of thousands of miles to Southeast Asia and all over the world to colonise and 'civilise' the natives in the region. The Brits had left Malaya and Singapore, the Dutch had left Indonesia, and the Spaniards had left the Philippines. But the White Trash that the Brits dumped in Australia were left behind, to civilise the aborigines. When are they going to return to England? Did they bully the aborigines? Did they steal their land?

Cox raised the issue of White Trash during the Q and A session when asked about the highs and lows of Singapore Australian relations. Relations were at a low when Lee Kuan Yew referred to the Australians as White Trash, likely referring to rubbish or unwanted stuff being thrown out of the house. Then Britain threw their convicts and prisoners in Australia and refused to take them back. Britain would not want the trash in UK. The White Trash think they are superior to the natives of the region, even self appointing themselves as the Sheriff of the region to rule over the natives. With a total population of 23 million, a few millions are not White Trash, they are nothing but a Mickey Mouse.

Australia brags about being the biggest military power in the region and was unhappy with China's warships in the Tasman Sea but very happy with their warships in the South China Sea and the Strait of Taiwan. Would Australia be invoking the 5 Power Defence Pact, the AUKUS or QUAD, to lead a fleet of warships into the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait in a show of force to frighten China?

The year 2025 is the Year of the Mickey Mouse with Mickey Mouse states provoking superpowers and wanting to start wars with superpowers. Ukraine is a good example of a Mickey Mouse in Europe. The Philippines is the next, or maybe Taiwan. Would Australia jump the queue to start a war with China since it is so powerful, and like Ukraine, has the full backing of the Americans?

Gaza Genocide - Arab leaders still trusting the evil Americans would secure peace for them? This is so ridiculous

CAIRO: Arab leaders adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza on Tuesday that would cost US$53 billion and avoid resettling Palestinians, in contrast to US President Donald Trump's "Middle East Riviera" vision, according to a copy of the plan.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that the proposal had been accepted at the closing of a summit in Cairo.

Sisi said at the summit he was certain that Trump would be able to achieve peace in the conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip.

The major questions that need to be answered about Gaza's future are who will run the enclave and which countries will provide the billions of dollars needed for reconstruction....

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the PA, said he welcomed the Egyptian idea and urged Trump to support such a plan that would not involve displacing Palestinian residents....

Any reconstruction funding would require heavy buy-in from oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have the billions of dollars needed.  CNA

So, the Arab leaders came out with a plan to rebuild Gaza. My bet, before any work is done, West Bank would be obliterated into the same shape as Gaza. Anyway, they are still banking on the evil Americans to support this plan, while knowing that Trump has his own plans to take over this land for his son in law, a Jew, as family asset. This is the sad state of affair of the Arab world, weak and powerless, and always hoping for the evil Americans to save them and knowing very well that the Americans were responsible for the destruction of Gaza and fully behind Israel in the creation of a state of Israel without Palestine, and eventually a state called Greater Israel. How gullible can the Arab leaders be?

The next point, in Ukraine, the Ukrainians, Europeans and Americans are demanding that Russia pay for the reconstruction of the destroyed land and infrastructure. Russia bombed them and Russia must pay for them. In the case of Gaza, the lands were bombed to the ground by the Israelis with American bombs. The Arab leaders did not want to know and afraid to call out the Americans and the Israelis. Ahem, ask the other rich Arab countries to foot the bill, so easy. Why not the two culprits, the Americans and the Israelis to pay for them? How to, too weak and too meek to open their mouths. Now sheepishly wanting the rich Arab nations to pay for the damage?

This is the pathetic state of the weak and hapless Arab world. Only chasing after shadows. And they will be in this state forever. But the worst is waiting for them, when they would lose all their lands, and people massacred by the Americans and the Israelis to create Greater Israel. Now they are living by the day, hoping that that day would not come, or pretending that it would not happen.

It would be better and less painful, less loss of lives if they let Trump and his son in law have Gaza and turn it into a piece of expensive real estate. Trump may even say thank you and invite them for dinner at the White House. And better still, all the Arab population starts to migrate to Eygpt or Africa before the Arab Holocaust starts, let Israel take over their land without a fight, without any more unnecessary death and there will be peace in the Middle East under Israeli rule.

Be warned, the day the hostages are released, the next round of genocide of the Palestinians will start. The Israelis and Americans would create all kinds of excuses, false flag incidents to justify the massacre. Netanyahu is getting impatient and in fact has started the killing of the Palestinians.